3.Perfect English Grammar_ The Indispensable Guide to Excellent Writing and Speaking ( PDFDrive )

■ be being ■ notice noticeable ■ replace replaceable ■ see seeing ■ true truly Some words have more than one -able form: ■ like likeable, likable ■ love loveable, lovable ■ move moveable, movable 4.3.3 ADDING SUFFIXES TO WORDS ENDING IN Y Change the -y to an -i- when you add a suffix, unless the suffix already begins with an i. ■ defy defies, defied, defiance, defying ■ copy copies, copied, copying ■ occupy occupies, occupied, occupying ■ party parties, partied, partying ■ try tries, tried, trying 4.3.4 DOUBLE THE FINAL CONSONANT WHEN ADDING SUFFIXES When adding a suffix to a root word of a single syllable that contains a single vowel and ends with a single consonant, the final consonant is usually doubled. ■ bat batted, batting, batter ■ grab grabbed, grabber, grabbing ■ stop stopped, stopping, stopper

4.4 Affixes Affixes are semantic elements that can be added to a word to change its meaning. Prefixes go before, suffixes go after, and infixes go in the middle. They change the meaning of the word or root to which they are attached. 4.4.1 INFLECTED ENDINGS An inflected ending is a type of suffix that modifies (1) the tense of a verb to indicate the time, duration, completeness, quantity, or other quality of what is being referred to or (2) the number. These inflected endings come—of course, because this is English—with irregular as well as regular patterns. In general, the older a word is in English, the more likely it is to be irregular, because, as mentioned in section 4.0, Spelling and Formatting, English has changed quite a bit, but some weird old forms still hang around. See more in section 6.0, Verbs. 4.4.2 DERIVATIONAL SUFFIXES Suffixes such as -able, -ant, -ly, -ness, -ology, and -ure can change a word from one part of speech to another. They are known as derivational suffixes. This is a completely ordinary way to make new words in English (part of its morphological vigor), and yet this kind of word transformation needlessly makes some English speakers uneasy, as if a great gaffe is being committed. It isn’t. This is another place where the history of English means that different suffixes that affect meaning in the same way are used with different roots and cannot be interchanged. For example, -ic, -al, and -y can all turn nouns into adjectives that mean “like [whatever the root is],” but hero becomes heroic and not heroal or heroy. 4.4.3 INFIXES Infixes, which go in the middle of words, are rare in English, and the ones that do exist tend to be informal or profane. They are usually reserved for extreme emphasis. Here are some of the tamer ones: ■ absolutely + bloody = abso- bloody-lutely (mildly offensive in the UK) ■ absolutely + bleeding (a

euphemized form of bloody) = abso-bleeding-lutely (mildly offensive in the UK) ■ absolutely + blooming = abso-blooming-lutely ■ absolutely + fricking (euphemism of an offensive word) = abso-fricking-lutely ■ absolutely + posi(tive) = abso-posi-lutely ■ fantastic + fricking = fan-fricking-tastic ■ guaranteed + damn = guaran-damn-teed 4.4.4 COMMON PREFIXES Prefixes go before a word. PREFIX MEANING EXAMPLE ab- away, from absent, abnormal anti- against antifreeze, anticlimax de- opposite of destruct, devalue dis- not, opposite of disagree, discover en-, em- cause to enact, encode, embrace fore- before, in front of forecast, foretell in-, im- in, into income, infield, imprint in-, im-, il-, ir- not injustice, immoral, illegal, irrational inter- between, among interact, interrupt mid- middle midlife, midway mis- wrongly misfire, misspell non- not nonsense, nonviolent over- above, too much overeat, overlook pre- before prefix, preview re- again return, rewrite semi- half, partly semicircle, semifinal sub- under submarine, subway super- above, beyond superhuman, superstar tele- far telephone, telescope trans- across, beyond, through transmit, trans-oceanic, transport un- not, opposite of unfriendly, unheard, unusual under- under, too little underestimate, undercount, undersea 4.4.5 COMMON SUFFIXES

Suffixes go after a word. SUFFIX MEANING EXAMPLE -able, -ible is, can be done affordable, comfortable, likable, divisible -al, -ial having characteristics personal, universal, facial of -ed past-tense verbs, she rested, a painted door adjectives -en made of golden, wooden -er comparative, more higher, taller, weaker -er, -or one who does speaker, worker, actor, tailor -est comparative, most biggest, mildest, wickedest -ful full of careful, helpful, mouthful -ic having characteristics elastic, linguistic, poetic of -ing verb form, present bringing, reading, running, participle sleeping -ion, -tion, -ation, - act, process attraction, edition, reaction ition -ity, -ty state of activity, infinity, society -ive, -ative, -itive adjective form of a active, sensitive, talkative noun -less without careless, fearless, hopeless -ly characteristic of, gratefully, kindly, lovely, quickly manner of -ment state of, act of contentment, enjoyment, resentment -ness state of, condition of boldness, coldness, kindness -ous, -eous, -ious possessing the qualities joyous, courageous, gracious of -s,-es more than one books, girls, temples, churches -y characterized by bubbly, happy, shiny

4.5 Contractions Contractions are words made by combining other words and replacing some of the letters with an apostrophe (’). Most contractions are idiomatic, meaning their forms are fixed even if they don’t seem to make sense to the modern English user. For example: ■ will not = won’t Remember when we said English has a lot of baggage from its long history? Won’t is actually a contraction of woll not, a much older form dating to at least as early as the mid-1500s. Some teachers and reference works insist you should avoid contractions because they are deemed too informal or slangy. However, that is an insupportable view. Even the most respected and highly educated writers, thinkers, and leaders of our era regularly use contractions in a wide variety of writing and speaking, both formal and informal. In fact, if you try to avoid contractions, your writing and speech will come out sounding stilted and unnatural. That said, it is also easy to overuse contractions in writing. A sentence like ■ He didn’t say he wouldn’t’ve been ready if it weren’t for the snow. is a monstrosity that will make your readers’ eyes pop out of their heads. 4.5.1 IT’S AND IT’D It’s and It’d are special contractions because each can be forms of different sets of words. ■ it’s = it has, it is ■ it’d = it had, it would 4.5.2 OLD-FASHIONED CONTRACTIONS The following contractions are considered old-fashioned today and should be avoided in everyday writing and speech. ’Tis, in particular, is frequently misused and overused, especially by newspaper headline-writers at Christmastime. ■ ’tis = it is ■ ’twas = it was ■ ’twere = it were ■ ’twill = it will ■ ’twould = it would

4.5.3 Y’ALL Y’all, a contraction of you all, is widely used in informal conversation by millions of people, especially throughout the southern United States. It’s a second-person plural pronoun, which means it’s used to refer directly to a group of people that may contain both men and women: ■ Y’all should bring your swimsuits when you come to visit. While y’all is a perfectly legitimate word, it should be avoided in formal writing and speech. Instead, use you or you all. Despite it seeming odd, you is the form for both the singular and plural second-person pronoun. See more in section 10.0, Pronouns. 4.5.4 LET’S IS A CONTRACTION FOR “LET US”. If you’re using a form of the verb to let, meaning “to allow,” the word will never have an apostrophe. If you’re unsure whether you’re using the right form, replace let’s or lets with “let us” to see if the sentence makes sense. ■ Wrong: She let’s him play with the dog. Lets not forget why we agreed to help. ■ Right: This gauge lets me see the temperature. Let’s go to the movies. 4.6 Proper Nouns that End in S We use the same -’s to form the possessive of proper nouns (names; see section 8.7) as we do for other nouns. Where it gets tricky is with names that already end in -s. There are a few guidelines that can help you decide how to make the name possessive. ■ If you say the possessive version of the name as “sez” or “zes” at the end, as with charlezez for Charles, then use ’s: Charles’s. Don’t spell it Charleses. ■ If the name sounds as if it already has an “es” or “eez” sound at the end, and ends in an -s, like Bridges, Mercedes, or Moses, then just use an apostrophe: Bridges’, Mercedes’, Moses’. Note that Reese’s, the candy maker, ends in an e, so it gets the -’s at the end, regardless of

how it sounds. ■ Certain ancient names traditionally take only an apostrophe, at least in formal works: Achilles’, Euripides’, Jesus’, Venus’, Zeus’. However, this tradition is weakening. The overall trend in English is moving toward using -’s in most cases for making proper nouns possessive. Partly this is because many people feel the apostrophe hanging on the end of a word like Sophocles’ just looks wrong. Some major style guides now permit, or even prefer, formations such as Ganges’s, with the understanding that most speakers will not pronounce the second s. However, I encourage you to be a little conservative on this. If you’re writing for work or for school, use the same option that your institution or profession prefers, or that your boss or teacher uses, regardless of the preceding guidelines. See also section 8.6.7 on the question of plural family names and section 8.6.1, Plurals of Some Greek and Latin Words.

4.7 Common Possessive Mistakes to Avoid An apostrophe never makes a word plural. It either makes it possessive or shows it’s a contraction. ■ Wrong: Our grandparent’s are visiting us during vacation. ■ Right: I learned dozens of relatives’ names at the family reunion. The possessive apostrophe on a word made plural with -s never goes between a vowel and the -s. ■ Wrong: ladie’s night ■ Right: ladies’ night Possessive pronouns (see section 10.0, Pronouns) never take an apostrophe. ■ hers ■ his ■ its ■ ours ■ theirs ■ whose ■ yours 4.7.1 ITS VERSUS IT’S Its versus it’s is a confusing possessive pronoun, because it looks so much like the contraction it’s. The best way to decide which word to use is to ask yourself, if I replace its/it’s with “it is” or “it has,” does the sentence still make sense? If so, then use it’s. If not, then use its. ■ Wrong: dog can’t catch it’s tail. ■ Right: It’s a long way to Tipperary. It’s been a pleasure speaking with you.

4.8 Dates In the United States, dates are formatted a little differently than in the rest of the world. Typically, the United States puts it as month-day-year, like so: ■ July 4, 1776, or 7/4/1776 ■ March 19, 2007, or 3/19/2007 ■ May 17, 1954, or 5/17/1954 In the rest of the world, you are far more likely to see basic dates written as day-month-year: ■ 4 July 1776, or 4/7/1776 ■ 19 March 2007, or 19/3/2007 ■ 17 May 1954, or 17/5/1954 If you regularly encounter both ways of writing the date, it’s easy to get frustrated, especially in cases where it’s not clear from the context which system is being used. Does 6/5/1947 mean June 5, 1947, or May 6, 1947? Ask if you’re not sure! There is also a more functional standard used worldwide for technical and data-sharing purposes: year-month-day: 1957-06-05. In the spelled-out US form that uses the names of the months, such as July 4, 1776, notice the commas after the day and the year. That’s an important style point easily overlooked. ■ Wrong: Elvis Presley died August 16, 1977 at this home in Graceland. December 14 1972 was the last human spaceflight to the moon. ■ Right: On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers made the first powered airplane flight. There’s yet another way to write dates. You’re likely to find it in formal or old-fashioned writing, or in government documents that adhere to old style rules. This uses ordinal numbers (see section 4.9, Numbers), such as first, twelfth, nineteenth, thirty-first, and so on. ■ We proclaim the thirtieth of March as Marvin Hecshler Day in the City of Wooster, Ohio. ■ The Fourth of July is a bank holiday in the United States. However, do not use ordinal numbers with full dates.

However, do not use ordinal numbers with full dates. ■ Bad: I think he was born on July 30th, 1970. ■ Good: I think he was born on July 30, 1970. The use of on is optional before the date (as in the example above). It may sound better to you with it. More formal writing (and most copyeditors) omit it. 4.8.1 DATE ABBREVIATIONS The standard abbreviations for the months and days are: ■ January: Jan. ■ February: Feb. ■ March: Mar. or not abbreviated ■ April: Apr. or not abbreviated ■ May: not abbreviated ■ June: Jun. or not abbreviated ■ July: Jul. or not abbreviated ■ August: Aug. ■ September: Sept. ■ October: Oct. ■ November: Nov. ■ December: Dec. ■ Monday: Mon. ■ Tuesday: Tues. or Tue. ■ Wednesday: Wed. ■ Thursday: Thurs. or Thur. ■ Friday: Fri. ■ Saturday: Sat. ■ Sunday: Sun. For formal writing, always spell out the months and days. For informal writing, just be sure whichever style you choose is consistent and your readers will understand it. 4.8.2 DECADES AND YEARS CAN BE ABBREVIATED IN INFORMAL SITUATIONS. ■ ’76 = 1776 ■ ’04 = 1904 ■ the ’80s = the 80s = the 1980s = the Eighties = the eighties When the 2000s came around, most people did not abbreviate the years 2001– 2009 as they did 1901–1909. So ’04 almost always means 1904, ’09

2009 as they did 1901–1909. So ’04 almost always means 1904, ’09 usually means 1909, and so forth. There are competing styles for abbreviating a decade as a two-digit number, one with an apostrophe at the beginning and one without. Just as with contractions (see section 4.5), an apostrophe shows where letters—or, in this case, numbers—have been dropped. ■ the ’60s ■ the 60s Microsoft Word, the most widely used word processing software in the world, has for more than 30 years mistakenly autocorrected apostrophes at the beginning of words, including date abbreviations. The apostrophe should curve to the left, not the right. ■ Wrong: the ‘80s ■ Right: the ’80s 4.8.3 TIME AND THE CLOCK In North American English we use a.m. (ante meridiem, meaning “before midday”) for the hours of the day between midnight (12 a.m.) and noon (12 p.m.), and p.m. (post meridiem, meaning “after midday”) for the hours between noon and midnight. The abbreviations can be written several ways, varying capitalization, punctuation, and spacing. As always when you have choices, try to find out what your boss or teacher prefers and stick to it. ■ 2 A.M.—2 a.m.—2 am—2am ■ 5:30 P.M.—5:30 p.m.—5:30 pm— 5:30pm Note that in Europe and other parts of the world, it is common to use a 24-hour clock (what people in the United States tend to think of as military time). With a 24-hour clock, the hours don’t start over after noon but continue increasing until resetting to zero at midnight. ■ 12:00 a.m. = “midnight” = 00:00 ■ 1:00 a.m. = 0100 = “oh one hundred hours” = “one in the morning” ■ 7:10 a.m. = 7:10 = 0710 = “seven ten” = “seven ten in the morning” ■ 12:00 p.m. = “noon” = 12:00 ■ 1:00 p.m. = 13:00 = 1300 = “thirteen hundred hours” = “one in the afternoon” ■ 6:20 p.m. = 18:20 = 1820 = “eighteen twenty” = “six twenty at night”

It’s usually clearer to use midnight and noon instead of 12:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. Even with the dominance of digital clocks, which have no spinning second, minute, or hour hands, we still keep using the old ways of talking about time derived from clocks with dials and faces. One old-fashioned way of telling time that has hung on for almost 500 years is o’clock, a contraction of of the clock. It is used only when the time is exactly on the hour. ■ 9 a.m. = 9 o’clock in the morning ■ 11:00 p.m. = 11 o’clock at night We don’t use o’clock if there are minutes after the hour in the time. ■ Wrong: 9:10 o’clock The halfway mark in an hour also has its own terminology. ■ 7:30 = “seven-thirty” = “half past seven” = “half seven” (mostly in the UK) We also use quarter-hours in English time-telling, especially when estimating time. A quarter hour is 15 minutes, which is one- quarter of the hour’s 60 minutes. ■ 9:15 = “nine fifteen” = “a quarter past nine” ■ 10:45 = “a quarter before eleven” = “a quarter to eleven” = “a quarter of eleven” For all other times, we use similar constructions: ■ 2:55 = “two fifty-five” = “five minutes before three” = “five minutes to three” = “five of three” Since we often give approximate times in English, sometimes we want to emphasize that we are talking about very specific times. ■ The meeting starts at 3 p.m. on the dot. ■ You’ll miss the train if you’re not there at 6:20 sharp. Time can be both a non-count noun and a count noun (see section 8.4). ■ He called her five times. ■ How many times did you run around the track? ■ I need more time to finish my homework. ■ It’s about time to leave.

4.8.4 IDIOMATIC TIME MEASUREMENTS There are several idiomatic expressions involving time that may be easy for English language learners to confuse. Five minutes and 15 minutes are often used as casual time estimates rather than exact measures, especially in the spoken language. ■ I was only outside for five minutes and the rain soaked me. = I was outside for a short period of time, probably more than one minute, but probably less than ten minutes. ■ We’ll be there in 15 minutes. = We’ll be there in more than five minutes but less than 30 minutes. On time means something is happening when it is supposed to. ■ We were on time for the meeting. = We were there when the meeting started. ■ The bus was on time. = The bus arrived when it was supposed to. In time means something happens, happened, or could happen, without being late. We usually follow in time with a verb. Frequently, it appears with just, as in just in time, which indicates that whatever it was, it happened with almost no extra time to spare. ■ Will the hero arrive in time to stop the villain? = Will the hero arrive soon enough to be able to stop the villain? ■ We arrived just in time for the movie. = We arrived right before the movie started. The time, with the definite article the, is used to refer to events that have happened, but without being specific about when. ■ Do you remember the time we swam across the river? ■ Then there was the time you wore pajamas to school. One time is often used to introduce a story about something specific that happened, without being specific about when. ■ One time at band camp we put a frog in the director’s bed. ■ One time I did my hair like my mother did hers when she was a girl.

Once upon a time is a formal way of introducing a story, especially a fairy tale or folk tale. ■ Once upon a time there was a princess who lived in an enchanted palace in a mighty city.

4.9 Numbers There are two main types of numbers in English: cardinal and ordinal. Cardinal numbers are used most of the time, whether you’re speaking or writing. They are the counting numbers. They express both positive and negative values. ■ We’ll need about 30 boxes to pack up all the books. ■ Fifty years ago, we found this amulet in a mountain cave. ■ The wind chill makes it feel like minus 20 degrees outside. Ordinal numbers usually show the order or sequence of things, such as rankings or dates. They differ in their usage and their word endings. ■ I was used to the odd hours by the second month of working the late shift. ■ Sometime after October 10th, we’re going camping in the mountains. Cardinal Ordinal

1st: first 1: one

2nd: second 2: two

3rd: third 3: three

4th: fourth 4: four

5th: fifth 5: five

6th: sixth 6: six

7th: seventh 7: seven

8th: eighth 8: eight

9th: ninth 9: nine

10th: tenth 10: ten

11th: eleventh 11: eleven

12th: twelfth 12: twelve

13th: thirteenth 13: thirteen

14th: fourteenth 14: fourteen

15th: fifteenth 15: fifteen

10th: twentieth 20: twenty

37th: thirty-seventh 37: thirty-seven

80th: eightieth 80: eighty

100th: one hundredth 100: one hundred Sometimes people will use the quasi-ordinal nth. The n stands for an unknown number. ■ For the nth time, do not jump on the couch! ■ This car is perfectly engineered to the nth degree. 4.9.1 PARTIAL NUMBERS There are two main kinds of partial numbers: fractions and decimals. Which you use depends on the circumstances. Fractions are common in recipes, where traditional measurements such as ¼ cup or ½ teaspoon are likely to appear. Fractions are also far more common than decimals in casual conversation, particularly when a quantity is unknown or estimated. In prose, we usually write out the fractions in words and use hyphens to separate the numerals and the words. They are represented as numerals in mathematics, recipes, and formulas. ■ We spent nine-tenths of our time on the trip arguing about the map. ■ Surveys show that something like a third of all citizens are trying to conserve water. ■ Blend ¾ cup sugar, ½ cup buttermilk, and ½ teaspoon salt. ■ Start with 1 ½ cups of flour. ■ My phone’s battery lasts only two-thirds of the day. ■ Half of all people will experience a temporary disability. Decimals tend to be used for precise measurements in scientific, financial, and academic fields. ■ 0.65 liters ■ 3.14159 inches ■ 400.03 points In decimals, if there are no numerals in front of the decimal point, put a zero. It makes it easier to notice the decimal. ■ OK: .44 ■ Better: 0.44

4.9.2 WRITING NUMBERS In most writing, such as for school or work, the numbers zero through nine should be written out as words rather than as numerals. Numbers 10 and higher should be written as numerals, except when they begin a sentence (see section 4.9.4). ■ There are three cookies left in the jar. ■ He has zero chances at winning the race, but he won’t stop trying. ■ For more than 100 years, my family has made the best olive oil in Italy. ■ The team gave me a jersey with the number 19 on it. ■ Twenty-three pairs of shoes were left near the door. If you have a series of numbers, they should all be in the same style, even if some are below and some are above 10. ■ Bad: My siblings are eight, 10, and 12 years old. ■ Good: My siblings are eight, ten, and twelve years old. In literary writing, it can be less distracting to the reader to see all numbers as words, and it’s often better to use general rather than specific numbers. There is something about the exactness of numbers that can destroy the mood of an emotional bit of writing. ■ Good: I scooted over a few inches on the bench until we could hold hands. ■ Not Good: I scooted over four inches on the bench until we could hold hands. ■ Even Less Good: I scooted over 4 inches on the bench until we could hold hands. In the United States, bank checks are still popular. These checks usually have the numbers written out two ways: once in numerals and once in words. This makes sure banks know exactly how much money to move from the check writer’s account to the check recipient’s account. For the sake of readability, it is best to separate each grouping of numbers with commas and to use “and” for the cents. ■ $601 = six hundred one dollars ■ $1,515,657 = one million, five

hundred fifteen thousand, six hundred fifty-seven dollars ■ $2999.04 = two thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine dollars, and four cents For writing dates, see section 4.8. 4.9.3 PERCENTAGES AS NUMBERS Percentages are best written as numbers, except, as noted in section 4.9.4, when they begin a sentence. ■ Up to 90 percent of school kids say they would rather choose their own teachers. 4.9.4 NUMBERS THAT START SENTENCES Numbers at the beginning of sentences should always be written as words, even if they are above nine. If it looks too awkward, then rewrite the sentence so the number doesn’t start things off. ■ Ninety minutes into the movie the baby started crying. ■ Ten days ago, I had the best key lime pie of my life. ■ Bad: Nine thousand, four hundred seven dollars would pay off my mortgage. ■ Good: My mortgage would be paid off with $9,407. 4.9.5 PLACE PUNCTUATION IN NUMBERS There are two styles of writing numbers that are four digits long to the left of the decimal: with or without a comma after the “thousands” place. Either is fine, but be consistent. ■ 2342 = 2,342 ■ 1132 = 1,132 Most of the English-speaking world uses commas to set off the places in long numbers, but in some countries in Europe and South America, periods are more common, and then a comma is used where North Americans would use a decimal. As always, it’s important to know your audience when writing.

■ 8,851,080.11 in North America = 8.851.080,11 in parts of Europe and South America ■ 21,163,226.40 in North America = 21.163.226,40 in parts of Europe and South America 4.9.6 SAYING NUMBERS AS WORDS ■ 1,000, thousands: say “thousand”: “one thousand,” “nine thousand” ■ 100, hundreds: say “hundred”: “one hundred,” “four hundred” ■ 10, tens: say just the number: “ten,” “twenty” ■ 1, ones: say just the number: “one,” “six” ■ 0.1, tenths: say as singular or plural: “one tenth,” “two tenths” ■ 0.01, hundredths: say as singular or plural: “one hundredth,” “eight hundredths” ■ 0.001, thousandths: say as singular or plural: “one thousandth,” “four thousandths” ■ 0.0001, ten-thousandths: say as singular or plural: “one ten- thousandth,” “three ten-thousandths” 4.9.7 ZERO VERSUS OH When reading numbers aloud in English, a zero is often said as “oh.” It may seem confusing to give the name of the letter O to the number 0 when they look so much alike—though the oh is usually rounder and the zero narrower—but it’s usually clear from the situation which one is correct. Where you’re most likely to encounter difficulty is with serial numbers, passwords, or other randomized numbers. ■ (212) 555-1204 = “two one two, five five five, one two oh four” ■ 4.0 = “four point oh” ■ s304fozv = “ess three zero four eff oh zee vee” 4.9.8 SAYING PHONE NUMBERS Unlike other countries, in the United States people tend to say phone numbers as a series of single digits and not groupings of two or three digits, as shown in section 4.9.7. However, especially for businesses, this is not always the case. ■ 1 (800) 555-8262 = one, eight hundred, five five five, eighty-two sixty-two ■ (212) 555-1010 = two one two, five five five, ten ten

sixty-two ■ (212) 555-1010 = two one two, five five five, ten ten 4.9.9 WRITING AMOUNTS OF MONEY Money isn’t very different from the previous guidelines (section 4.9, Numbers), but there are a few places where you need to be alert to common mistakes. ■ Avoid indicating “dollars” or “cents” twice: Wrong: $1.2 million dollars, $0.30 cents, 0.30¢ Right: $1.2 million, $0.30, 30 cents. The word money is almost never plural in everyday English. Only in the most technical financial situations, such as when discussing a corporation’s or a government’s budget, is it used. For nearly all uses for most people, it should be just money, even if you’re talking about more than one source or kind of money. ■ Bad: How many monies do you have? Lend me five bucks. ■ Good: How much money do you have? Lend me five bucks.





Although they come in a variety of lengths and forms, sentences tend to be made of just a few basic features. Understanding these features will help you when writing is difficult. The basic parts of every sentence are subjects, predicates, objects, and clauses. They can appear in many different forms and places.

5.1 Subjects and Predicates The subject of a sentence is the main actor of the sentence: the person, animal, or thing performing the verb. The predicate of a sentence is what is being done. It’s the verb and everything connected to the verb, including whatever the verb is acting on. A predicate always keeps company with a subject, and it has a voice (see section 6.6) and a tense (see section 6.4). In English, we usually put the subject before the predicate. Consider the following simple sentence: ■ Miguel sells cars. Here Miguel is the subject and sells cars is the predicate. When a sentence has both a subject and predicate, it is considered complete, as opposed to being a sentence fragment. In writing, most ordinary sentences are complete. However, sentence fragments are far more common when speaking. Where beginning writers often go astray is trying to transcribe fragments of spoken language exactly as they hear them.

5.2 Subject-Verb Agreement The subject and verb in a sentence must agree in number. That is, if the subject is plural, the verb must be conjugated in the proper plural form. If the subject is singular, then the verb must be conjugated in the proper singular form. (See more at section 6.0, Verbs.) ■ Crows are loud birds. ■ The little girl waves to the bus driver. However, for either/or and neither/nor sentences, the verb is conjugated based on the subject nearest to it. ■ Either our dad or our grandparents are picking us up. ■ Neither our grandparents nor our dad is picking us up. A phrase or clause that comes between the subject and the verb does not change the antecedent’s number. ■ Mexican food, no matter what you think of hot peppers, is its own reward. Compound subjects are matched with a plural referent. ■ An ambulance and a fire truck are on their way to the scene of the accident. When you use indefinite pronouns such as anybody, each, everybody, and someone, use a singular verb. ■ Each of the voters takes a ballot. ■ Someone was speaking out of turn. For more on subject-verb agreement, see section 6.7, Conjugating Verbs.

5.3 Objects Objects are what is acted upon or affected by the verb. There are three kinds of objects found in sentences: direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of a preposition. A direct object is acted upon by the verb. ■ Miguel sells cars. Cars is the object, because it is what is being sold. An indirect object receives or is acted upon by the direct object. We can revise our sentence to include an indirect object: ■ Miguel sells businesses cars. In this version of our sentence, cars is still the direct object, but it now has an indirect object, businesses. The object of a preposition (see section 13.0, Prepositions) could be said to direct the action of the verb and tell us how the verb was performed. The object comes after the preposition. For example: ■ Ani pushed the bicycle onto the sidewalk. In this sentence, the sidewalk is the object of the preposition onto, and it tells us how pushed happened.

5.4 Clauses If you have a phrase or sentence with a subject and a predicate, then you have a clause. The clause can be sophisticated or simple, but it’s still a clause. An independent clause can function on its own and looks much like a regular sentence. ■ I left my backpack on the bus. A dependent clause cannot function on its own because it leaves an idea or thought unfinished. ■ when I left my backpack on the bus That’s a dependent clause because the word when leaves us wondering. It’s perfectly fine to have a dependent clause, but it should always keep company with other clauses that complete them, like this: ■ When I left my backpack on the bus, the driver gave it back the next day. Note that the driver gave it back the next day is not a dependent clause because, except for capitalizing “The,” it could exist on its own as a sentence.

5.5 Subordinators The when in when I left my backpack on the bus is an example of a subordinator, which introduces a dependent clause. Subordinators do the work of connecting the dependent clause to another clause to complete the sentence. In each of these examples, the first word is a subordinator: ■ because her old hat had lost its shape ■ that was in the cupboard behind the cans ■ which he bought as soon as it was on the market Subordinators can include relative pronouns (see section 10.6), subordinating conjunctions (see section 14.3), and noun clause markers. Noun clause markers are useful when you want to connect two independent clauses. They include: ■ how ■ however ■ if ■ that ■ what ■ whatever ■ when ■ whenever ■ where ■ wherever ■ whether ■ which ■ whichever ■ who ■ whoever ■ whom ■ whomever ■ whose ■ why Willa learned. + The horses are tame enough to ride. = Willa learned that the horses are tame enough to ride. I can’t understand. + What is he saying? = I can’t understand what he is saying. Sunil wonders. + Can the Mets win the World Series? = Sunil wonders whether the Mets can win the World Series.

That is a special noun clause marker that can be omitted. The others cannot. For example: ■ Willa learned that the horses are tame enough to ride. = Willa learned the horses are tame enough to ride. In fact, many copyeditors and professors will insist that you remove thats like that as being unnecessary.

5.6 Phrases While a clause has both a subject and a predicate, a phrase does not. A phrase can simply be a cohesive set of words that makes some sense. Phrases are usually parts of clauses, and they can function as a part of speech, such as a verb phrase (see section 5.6.2), noun phrase (see section 5.6.1), or prepositional phrase (see section 5.6.3). Phrase Clause yogurt in the smoothie I put yogurt in the smoothie. broken window A broken window lets the cold in. because of the high cost because it costs a lot after the concert after the concert ends 5.6.1 NOUN PHRASES A noun phrase works as a single noun-like unit even though it may contain more than one word. Noun phrases start with nouns and pronouns, to which adjectives, verbs, determiners, and other parts of speech are added. ■ People who have cars spend less time walking. ■ We found the source of the water leaking into the closet. One type of noun phrase is an appositive phrase, where the subject is defined or restated, usually right after it. ■ Guthrie, my son, imagines going to space. ■ My son Guthrie imagines going to space. In the first sentence, the aside set off by commas adds a bit of nonessential information about Guthrie. In the second sentence, we are naming him, as I have more than one son and it is a way of specifying which son I mean. Another type of noun phrase is a gerund phrase, which is made from a verb but behaves like a noun. ■ Running is the only exercise I enjoy.

There are also infinitive phrases, which use an unconjugated form of the verb. ■ I love to run before dawn. 5.6.2 VERB PHRASES Verb phrases start with a verb and may include a direct or indirect object, or a complement (see section 5.7). They do not include the subject. Verb phrases can sometimes behave like adjectives or adverbs. ■ It may be time for new snow tires. ■ The thunderstorm would have awakened anyone. ■ We need a motion to end this meeting. 5.6.3 PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES Prepositional phrases do not have a verb or a subject and, like noun phrases and verb phrases, function as a unit. They contain a preposition and the object of the preposition (see section 13.0, Prepositions), with adjectives sometimes appearing between them. These phrases can act like adjectives and adverbs. ■ The gold dress with the shiny trim looks blue. ■ Our awareness of our unconscious minds is weak. ■ As the train climbed through the snowy Swiss Alps, I felt cozy in my berth. 5.6.4 ABSOLUTE PHRASES Absolute phrases modify the entire sentence and are set off by commas or dashes from it. ■ Our work finished, we headed down to the pub. ■ The show over, the cast and crew went to Sardi’s for drinks.

5.7 Complements A complement completes the predicate. It finishes the idea started by the subject or object or a verb. A subject complement comes after a linking verb (see section 6.9) and describes or redefines the subject. ■ Her dog is a beagle.—Beagle is the subject complement. ■ You seem worried.—Worried is the subject complement. ■ The caterpillar became a moth.—Moth is the subject complement. An object complement, usually a noun or adjective or words behaving like one, refers to a direct object (see section 5.3, Objects). ■ They painted the bike shed blue.—Bike shed is the direct object, and blue is the object complement. ■ Customers called the product “unobtainium” and the name stuck. —Product is the direct object and unobtainium is the object complement. A verb complement supplements the understanding of another verb. In other words, one verb is the object of the others. We do this three ways: 1. With noun clauses: He knew she had finished.—She had finished is the verb complement to knew. 2. With infinitives: I want to finish this.—To finish this is the verb complement to want. 3. With gerunds: I thought swimming in the dark would be fun.—Swimming in the dark is a verb complement to thought.